Had Rejected MS Dhoni’s Offer to Lead India the First Time in Final Test, Reveals Sourav Ganguly
Ganguly took the captaincy when the match-fixing rocked the Indian cricket exposed in 2000, and he did not take long to galvanise the side into a force to reckon with. Under Ganguly’s captaincy, which began in November 2000, India won 11 Tests overseas including matches in Sri Lanka, West Indies, England, Australia and Pakistan.
But despite being one of the best batsmen in the history of Indian cricket and one of the most successful skippers of the nation, Ganguly did not get the farewell he would have wanted.
Getting out for a duck in the second innings which further spoiled Ganguly’s farewell game.
However, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the then India skipper, made sure that the legendary skipper bows out of the game with a last hurrah. Dhoni had handed over the captaincy to Ganguly for some time during the Nagpur Test which was a magnificent gesture as well as fitting for someone who taught the team how not to get intimidated by the opposition.
But the fans would not have seen Ganguly donning the captain’s hat for one last time had Dhoni not persuaded him for the second time. The former India captain has revealed he had initially rejected Dhoni’s offer to lead the team in the final Test of his career.
“As the match came to a close, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a surprise gesture asked me to lead. I had rejected his offer earlier in the day, but could not refuse a second time,” he has written in his upcoming autobiography “A Century Is Not Enough.”
“Ironically, my captaincy career had begun exactly eight years ago on this very day. I handled the bowling changes and field placements while the last Australian wicket batted,” he said, “But I must admit, at that stage, I found it difficult to focus. So after three overs I handed it back to Dhoni saying, it is your job, MS. We both smiled,” he added.
Ganguly, who was a surprise inclusion in the side for the Test series against Australia, further said he regretted missing out on a hundred in his farewell match. He was dismissed on 85 by Jason Krezja and then for a duck in his second and final innings by the same spinner. India had gone on to win the game by 172 runs, giving Ganguly a perfect parting gift.
“The man the Indian selectors had kept on an indefinite trial did stand up to the Australian attack and walked away with a solid 85. I missed the coveted three-figure mark only by 15 runs, but my friend Sach [Tendulkar] lent an additional flavour to the party by getting a rock-solid hundred,” he has said in the autobiography.
“What made the occasion happier was that we won the Test. I ended my final innings in Test cricket in a first-ball duck. Looking back I still feel it was a loose shot as I tried to play Jason Krejza against the turn. The bat had closed early, and Krejza easily accepted a low return catch. I have no regrets. It was a bad shot, and I paid the price. But I still regret missing the hundred. It was mine for the taking,” added Ganguly.
